Boucher appointed Proteas team director Nkwe demoted to assistant

Titans coach and former Proteas Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has been appointed South Africa team director taking over from Enoch Nkwe.

Nkwe was appointed interim team director for the tour to India and was set to fill the role again against England, but newly appointed Director of Cricket Graeme Smith has wasted no time in imposing his vision on the Proteas.

Smith turns to Boucher to toughen up the Proteas

Smith announced that Boucher would assume the role after the Mzansi Super League final.

At a media briefing at Newlands in Cape Town, Smith announced that Boucher would be tasked with moulding the young Proteas team into a battle-ready Test team while Nkwe would assist the new coach. Fielding coach Justin Ontong and manager Volvo Masubelele retained their roles in order to maintain some continuity.

“I have brought Boucher on board because I feel he will bring the toughness to turn a young and inexperienced Proteas squad into a battle-ready outfit. With his experience of a long career as an international cricketer he has first hand experience of what it takes to succeed in the Test arena,” Smith told a large gathering of cricket press.

“I have the highest regard for Enoch as well and I want to create a clear path for him to grow into a top international coach.

“At the same time there is a clear need to maintain continuity and stability in the Proteas management team and we will be retaining the technical support staff along with Volvo Masubelele continuing as team manager and Justin Ontong as fielding coach.

“I will be appointing batting and bowling consultants, and these will be announced in the next couple of days,” added Smith.

Smith confirmed that Faf du Plessis would remain Test captain and said South Africa A and Proteas squads would be announced on Monday. Boucher and Nkwe attended the briefing while du Plessis was absent as he prepares for the Mzansi Super League final.

“It is only fair that Faf focuses his attention on the MSL Final on Monday so the Media will have their opportunity to engage with him after Monday evening’s Final,” Smith explained.

“We will be announcing both the Proteas Test squad and the South Africa A squad to play England on Monday. The Test squad will then go into immediate camp to prepare for the Test series and some of them will be included in the South Africa A team. Aiden Markram is likely to be the only player released for franchise duty in the 4-day series as he is in need of match practice after his lengthy injury-enforced absence.

“As far as my vision for the future is concerned, we need to rewind to performance excellence and that will be the focus going forward. Our public want and demand a world-class Proteas side and we must deliver on that.

“As far as my own future is concerned, I face a very busy and at times hectic three months and I am not going to look further ahead than that. I am sure everybody will understand that.

“Because of the time frame the Proteas Test squad is my most immediate concern and we will be rolling out plans for the Proteas Women and the under-19s, who both face important ICC global events next year, in the immediate future.” 

The first Test against England gets underway on 26 December at Supersport Park in Centurion.